MATCH Of The Day will run for just 20-minutes tonight as the carnage-engulfed BBC limps to get the show on-air.
The flagship footie programme will have no presenters, pundits or commentators after staff masterminded a mutiny in solidarity with Gary Lineker’s suspension.
BBCMatch Of The Day will run for just 20-minutes tonight as the carnage-engulfed BBC limps to get the show on-air[/caption]
PAGary Lineker was pulled off the programme on Friday after comparing the Government’s Illegal Migration Bill to ‘1930s Germany’[/caption]
Co-hosts Ian Wright, Alan Shearer, Jermaine Jenas, Alex Scott, Mark Chapman and Micah Richards refused fill in, plunging the football analysis show into crisis.
The show’s commentary team are also standing down – with the dulcet tones of Conor McNamara, Simon Brotherton and Robyn Cowen all falling silent tonight.
Match Of The Day – which usually runs for 80-minutes – will start at the usual time of 10.20pm but will only show Prem match highlights.
It means the show will be largely silent.
Mr Lineker was pulled off the programme – which he’s hosted since 1999 – on Friday after comparing the Government’s Illegal Migration Bill to “1930s Germany”.
The Sun on Sunday understands BBC boss Tim Davie is locked in a standoff with Mr Lineker, who refuses to back down amid a row over his controversial tweets.
Crisis-engulfed Davie told the BBC on Saturday he would “absolutely not” quit amid a fallout that has bought the corporation to its knees.
Football Focus, Final Score, the Fighting Talk podcast and 5Live’s 606 football phone in were all canned as the staff uprising sent schedules into meltdown.
Mr Davie described the unfolding disaster as a “difficult day” and apologised for the disruption to BBC sports programming.
Asked if he was sorry about the way he handled it, he told the BBC: “We made decisions and I made decisions based on a real passion about what the BBC is and it’s difficult.”
He insisted the row is about impartiality.
As his employer battled fires on all fronts – Mr Lineker today took time out to watch his beloved Leicester City in action at the King Power Stadium against Chelsea.
The ex-England star was pictured watching the Foxes alongside one of his sons – and appeared all smiles despite his side losing 3-1.
The row was triggered when Mr Lineker responded to a video on Twitter of Home Secretary Suella Braverman as she presented the Government’s small boats plan.
The legislation will see migrants swiftly detained and removed to either their country of origin or a safe third state within 28 days.
Sharing the clip, Mr Lineker said: “Good heavens, this is beyond awful.”
Responding to another user who described him as “out of order”, he added: “We take far fewer refugees than other major European countries.
“This is just an immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s, and I’m out of order?”
In a statement after suspending Mr Lineker, the BBC outlined they had undergone “extensive discussions” with the ex-England star, 62, following the furore.
While the Beeb praised his sports coverage as “second to none” they said he should “keep well away from taking sides” on party political topics.
The crisis reached its peak late on Saturday when Prime Minister Rishi Sunak waded into the row, saying the presenter’s suspension is an issue for the BBC, not him.
Mr Sunak said the chaos was “rightly a matter” for the BBC, not the Government.
He added that while he respected “not everyone will always agree” with Government policies, he praised Mr Lineker for being a “great footballer and talented presenter”.
It came as an ad of talkSport’s Alan Brazil appeared outside the crisis-ravaged headquarters of the BBC on Saturday.
The rival broadcaster told the BBC in a tongue-in-cheek stunt: “Here comes the super sub. Alan Brazil is ready to step in.”